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Latvia
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Culture & Identity of Turkey

Introduction

The way of life in Turkey is incredibly diverse. For some Turks, their dress, religious
beliefs, and dietary restrictions are quite liberal, but for others, their Islamic
faith demands conservative dress, actions, and more. Although religion is the greatest
contributing factor in an individual's way of life, there are other determining
factors as well. The country is ethnically diverse; there are great differences
from Istanbul and the western part of the country to the eastern part of the country,
and more. However, despite the differences, there are also many similarities across
the way of life from person to person.

The first significant similarity is that Turkey is heavily urbanized; over 70% of
the people live in urban settings. Amongst those people living in more rural areas,
many of those working have jobs in the agricultural sector as over a quarter of
the Turks work in this sector. In the cities the working people have jobs in numerous
fields, including both the industrial and services sectors. While the farmers schedule
their day on the sun and weather, the urbanites generally have more regular schedules.

Most employees with a regular job work from about 8:00 am to about 5:00 pm, however
entertainment positions, such as work in a restaurant, tend to work later and the
many jobs in tourism (in some locations) vary based upon tourist demands, but again
often times go into the evening and weekend (Saturday-Sunday) hours. Schools also
run on a fairly regular schedule with schools in session from mid-September to mid-June.
Many schools though have two "shifts" with some kids attending school
in the morning and a second group of children attending in the afternoon to early
evening.

Today the weekends in Turkey are Saturday and Sunday, but in Islam the holy day
is Friday. Because of this, many places close early on Friday, especially in small
towns and more conservative Islamic areas where Friday prayers are an important
part of the week. Istanbul also has a huge number of people that attend weekly Friday
prayers, but relative to the number of people in the city as a whole, it may not
appear that many people actual prayer during this time. In Turkey prayer, both Friday
prayer as well as the five daily prayers, are heavily personal as some people never
miss a prayer, some only prayer on Fridays, while others simply never attend mosque
or only pray from home. Depending on the individual, Islam can have a significant
impact on an individual's daily way of life.

The Turks have strong family ties and are very outgoing. Evenings and weekends tend
to be times for socialization, socialization with family, with friends, and with
random strangers they meet in the streets. Again, every Turk spends his or her free
time in differing ways, but it's rare to find a Turk who spends nights and weekends
without company.

Identity

Turks identify as such and after listening to them tout their
friend's carpet shop, they are eager to inform you that they are liberal Muslims
who enjoy beer as much as the next European. This Turkish
identity is linked to this culture, but also to the language, foods, and ethnicity
of the people. Although the culture takes on a substantial part of the Turkish identity,
the culture from region to region and from liberal Muslim to conservative Muslim
includes huge variations. Due to this, the Turkish identity is first based on the
people's similarities across the country, which includes ethnicity, language,
food, and their country itself. The identity of being Turkish is then further defined
by individuals, some including their liberal stances, others focused on Islam, etc.
In this way, what it means to be Turkish is very personalized, but the unifying
traits link the people as one before these differences separate them

For many of the ethnic minorities their primary means of identifying is based on
their ethnicity, such as the ethnic Kurds. Among these ethnic minorities, many live
in the eastern part of the country and are much more conservative Muslims; this
strong affiliation to Islam is a very stong identifying feature for many of these
people, if not their primary means of identity.